hundreds of volunteers are set to trial
a new vaccine against coronavirus over
the coming weeks as part of a project
led by scientists at Imperial College
London experts at Oxford University have
already started a separate trial the
studies are among more than a dozen
vaccines being trialed around the world
right now but the one being developed by
Imperial College uses a revolutionary
new approach which means that only a
timely dose should be needed if it works
the team says it should have enough to
immunize 14 million people in the UK by
the middle of next year our medical
correspondent Fergus Walsh was given
exclusive access to the trial
coronavirus has transformed all our
lives
and although restrictions are easing
there's only one certain way out of the
pandemic one way to protect us all from
the virus to return society to normal
and that's a vaccine
never has science responded so fast to a
global health threat what usually takes
years has been done in months there are
now more than a hundred and twenty
coronavirus vaccines in early
development thirteen have begun human
trials five in China three in the United
States two in the UK and one each in
Australia Germany and Russia will need
several to work if there's to be enough
doses to protect seven billion people on
the planet after Oxford University now
Imperial College London is the latest to
begin trials Kathy who's thirty-nine is
one of three hundred volunteers who will
receive the Imperial vaccine she'll get
a second booster dose in four weeks I
think it came from not really knowing
what I could do to help and this turned
out to be something that I could do and
understanding that it's not likely that
things will get back to normal until
there is a vaccine so wanting to be part
of that progress as well if the safety
trial goes well a further six thousand
volunteers will be immunized in the
autumn trials might also need to happen
overseas in virus hotspots because
that's the only way researchers will
know for sure if it offers protection I
wouldn't be working on this trial if I
didn't feel cautiously optimistic that
we will see great immune responses in
our participants but there's still a
long way to go to evaluate this vaccine
this is a really unusual vaccine the
synthetic genetic code it contains
should instruct muscle cells to produce
the spike protein found on the surface
of coronavirus that should prompt the
creation of antibodies and that army of
antibodies should remain on guard in
case of future exposure to corona virus
and if it works prevent infection
because it's all created artificially
with no need to grow any virus the
vaccine could be manufactured on a huge
and concentrated scale it means that we
can make the equivalent of two million
doses
in the volume of a liter so you imagine
a liter bottle of lemonade that would
have two million doses in it so when you
want to start making vaccine for the
world if this is successful and that's
still a big if it makes it so much more
tractable
because you don't have to build a
factory the size of several warehouses
Imperial College say they could have
enough doses ready to immunize 40
million people in the UK by next summer
but trials must first show the vaccine
is safe and effective
focus watch BBC news now leading health
organizations are urging ministers to
carry out a review to establish if the
UK is properly prepared for another
outbreak of coronavirus the presidents
of the Royal Colleges of physicians
surgeons GPS and nurses have outlined
their concerns in a letter published in
the British Medical Journal
it comes as the number of deaths from
coronavirus registered in the last 24
hour period rose to a hundred and
fifty-four the total number of deaths in
the UK so far is now 43081 our science
editor David Chapman has been comparing
the UK's experience with that of
countries around the world memories are
still raw of the relentless pressure
when the corona virus was spreading with
dangerous speed those days have now
passed but health professionals say many
lessons need to be learned in case the
virus surges again we still don't have
an answer as to why my colleagues from
the black Asian minority ethnic groups
are more likely to die from this illness
these are all things that urgently need
looking into in a no blame
forward-looking way so that we can be
prepared and put measures in for a
potential of second wave in October and
the winter so what's the state of the
virus right now
well things have definitely been going
in the right direction this line is a
rolling seven-day average of new
infections across the UK far lower now
than it was at the peak back in April
but let's compare that to the rest of
Europe
in the UK we're getting about a thousand
new infections every day Germany France
Italy Spain all getting far fewer again
this is a one-week average for the
numbers and that gives them a much
better chance to tackle any new
outbreaks in Portugal restaurants in the
capital Lisbon have had to close again
because of a rise in cases a swift
response is needed even in countries
with low levels of virus we have been
able to show in Western Europe with a
lot of effort that we can slow the
spread but we are not as a world on top
of this pandemic it's really very much
with us and it will be with us for
months perhaps even years to come and
while Europe now has some control over
the virus row after row of new graves is
being dug in Brazil in many developing
countries the disease is now escalating
hospitals are under strain and in the
slum districts of the big cities social
distancing just isn't possible cutting
work in a crowded barrio or favela where
people live next to each other and in
not only next to each other but also in
many cases even very non ventilated
rooms families living in one room Mexico
is also seeing a sharp rise in
infections but this hospital had to be
evacuated after an earthquake yet
another challenge as the pandemic
reaches more and more of the people
least able to cope
David Rahman BBC news and in America New
York and the neighboring states of New
Jersey and Connecticut are introducing a
14-day quarantine period for visitors
from nine other US states with high
rates of coronavirus infection new cases
of Cove igniting in the US have risen to
their highest level since April let's
talk to our North America editor John so
people in Washington John when experts
talk their how serious do they think
this situation is
it's grim and getting grimmer hue there
are now 26 states in America where
they've seen more Co vid cases this week
than they did last week a handful of the
biggest states Florida Texas California
Arizona are seeing massive spikes with
thousands of new cases being reported
each day a hospital in Houston
they've got 97 percent occupancy of
intensive care beds now Donald Trump
says this is all because of increased
testing his public health experts say
it's far more serious than that and if
you compare the u.s. to the European
Union the difference is really stark
it's something like 100,000 of
population six or seven times worse in
America than Europe and that's leading
the EU to consider introducing a travel
ban on passengers coming from America
into Europe and that would be a damning
verdict on Donald Trump's handling of
coronavirus it would also be a very bold
move by the EU because it's bound to
infuriate the president this is much
more than just a simple public health
issue John many thanks again John so
called there are North America editor in
Washington back here in studio our
medical correspondent Fergus Walsh is
with me that's the picture in the States
Ferguson John spelled out up there you
were telling us earlier about these
trials and this vaccine which holds out
some promise at Imperial College tell us
about the prospects of that and how you
read it well a vaccine is the only
guaranteed exit strategy from this
pandemic and we've seen a record rise in
daily infections globally now drug
treatments will help we have the
breakthrough last week with the steroid
dexamethasone better drugs will follow
but that's treating the illness what we
need to do is prevent people getting
infected in the first place and only a
vaccine can do that now if either the
Oxford or the Imperial vaccines work
there'll be enough doses for the UK with
health care workers and vulnerable
groups getting immunized first indeed
Oxford has done a deal to create 2
billion doses of its vaccine enough for
Europe for the US and India the trouble
is you
it could be many months perhaps well
into next year before we know if any of
the vaccines around the world actually
work and how effective they are do they
protect the elderly where vaccines don't
normally work so much it's likely that
most of the corona virus vaccines will
fail but we just need one or two them to
work to really transform the fight
against corona virus focus once again
many thanks focus watch that our medical
correspondent